


Your Memory Will Carry On

by DaniCarli



Series: ETNuary Challenge [20]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Bonding, Charity Foundation, ETNuary, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Happy Ending, Honor, Light Angst, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sad, Sad and Happy, Sad with a Happy Ending, Survival, Survivor Guilt, Tyler misses his friends, especially alex, honoring fallen friends, remembering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22329688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniCarli/pseuds/DaniCarli
Summary: It's the grand opening of one of Tyler's foundations that he has set up for his fallen friends.  As the party commences, the former Thespian reflects on those he lost, his survival, and remembering the best friend he's doing this for.
Relationships: The Mystic | Andrea Russett & The Thespian | Tyler Oakley
Series: ETNuary Challenge [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1588867
Comments: 9
Kudos: 10





	Your Memory Will Carry On

**Author's Note:**

> Day 20 of ETNuary: Tyler Oakely

Tyler Oakely isn't going to lie. He's nervous as hell!

After months of planning and setting this all up, the day has finally arrived. It’s the grand opening of one of his non-profit organizations that honor the friends he lost in the Victorian Era a year prior. Out of the seven friends who died, this one is the most important to Tyler. He wants to make sure this charity is successful for it’s in memory of his closest friend, the one whose death hit him the hardest. To celebrate the opening, a party was set up and a lot of people were invited, mostly made up of YouTubers, sponsors, and many close friends. Already, the donations were coming in so fast that it overwhelmed Tyler with gratitude and appreciation. It showed people cared.

“You really did this, Tyler!” Andrea Russett, his close friend, and fellow survivor, beams with pride as the two look upon the foundation's building, a red tape tied across the steps that will be cut later. Around them are people mingling, talking, and eating finger foods as they wait for Tyler to give his speech. 

Tyler nods. Aside from being nervous, he's also happy. It took a lot of work, but after seeing the end result, it was worth the endless days of stress and anxiety. He would gladly take that kind of anxiety over the anxiety he felt back when he was fighting for his life.

The former Thespian never thought he would survive that night. The kind of person he was then was so scared and jumpy, not helping as much as some of the other guests; heck, a part of him can’t believe he made it out of there. While happy to have survived, he still feels guilty about it. Some of his fallen friends were much more deserving than he was, and there are dark days where he wished it was them who lived instead of him. 

When he thinks about his friends, it hurts a lot. But it hurts the most when he thinks about Alex Wassabi, his childhood friend, and who Tyler _still_ thinks should have been the one to survive that horrible place.

“Tyler, I know that look!” Andrea warns, breaking the young man from his thoughts. “You’re not going to do that. Not today!”

Tyler sighs. Andrea's the one person who understands when he gets like this and is there to pull him out. 

“No, I’m sorry,” he apologizes, trying to prevent tears. 

Andrea looks at her friend with empathy. "You're thinking about him, aren't you? How he should be here?"

Tyler nods, staring at the grass beneath his loafers. “I...I just miss him, Andrea. I miss all of them!”

Andrea smiles, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I miss them too! And I _know_ how much it still hurts to think about everyone we lost, especially Alex. But Tyler, look at what you’ve done for them! You made a promise to honor their memories and you succeeded. Thanks to you, everyone will remember the hero that Alex was!”

Her words allow the tears to finally fall from Tyler’s eyes, whether he likes it or not. Andrea’s right, he _did_ make a promise to honor his fallen friends and make sure they were remembered as good people, even those that were deemed “shady”. And when Alex died, Tyler wanted to make sure that no one forgot him. He wanted his best friend to be remembered not by how he died, but how he lived. 

That’s why Tyler came up with the idea of this charity in Alex’s memory. He knew this is what Alex would have wanted. What better foundation to create for the other man than one that spreads positivity, happiness, as well as justice and encourages a safe community for everyone? That’s what today is about.

Tyler looks around once more at the people who came to the event. Among them are Alex’s family, who came in from North Carolina. The late YouTuber’s parents constantly reminded Tyler how grateful they were to him for doing this for Alex and that their son would have been proud of him; today was no different. Tyler was glad to hear it, he wanted to get it right. He even brought on Alex’s older brother and fellow YouTuber, Aaron, to help with the project, so he owes some credit to the guy. It was a rewarding experience, even bringing Tyler and Aaron closer as friends.

Also attending are the survivors of the other massacres. Tyler spots Eva Gutowski and Oli White, who flew in two days ago from London. They're deep in conversation with the recent survivors, Matthew Patrick, who came with his wife and baby, and Nikita Dragun. Although Tyler's surprised the two made it, he's happy that they did. 

It’s been five months since the third massacre, so Tyler’s glad to see they're both doing well, given what the gamer and the beauty guru went through. Losing most of their friends from that, one of them being Colleen Ballinger, who was also a close friend of Tyler’s, must definitely hurt. Tyler understands that feeling very well, and has talked to them since their return, inviting them to a group he arranged for the survivors. Both agreed and have been attending, even though Nikita was reluctant at first. Matt, inspired by what Tyler has done for the victims, has even reached out about doing something to honor the people who died during his "night", and wanted the blonde man’s help. Tyler was all for it, feeling honored to help continue the legacy of the fallen.

As for the man who was responsible for all of these nights, Tyler doesn’t see him in the crowd. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting Joey Graceffa to appear today. Not that he blames him. 

After talking to Joey over the phone three months prior, Tyler could hear the guilt and remorse in the other man’s voice. After the third massacre, Joey shut himself away from the world. He promised Tyler that it was all over, that none of this will ever happen again. Joey also told Tyler that he was going to fix this, a sliver of hope in his tone. Whatever that means, Tyler is just happy Joey’s alive and prays that his friend will eventually find peace like he has.

Losing Alex and the others motivated Tyler to do more. And with the craziness of Joey, Matt, and Nikita’s return in July, and mourning the new set of victims finally winding down, Tyler wants to give some hope to the community. It makes sense to have that in December, two weeks before Christmas. Something to smile about.

Tyler turns back to Andrea, wiping his tears and smiling at her. “I wouldn’t have gotten through this without you, Andrea,” he says as he pulls the younger girl into a hug. “Thank you.”

He feels Andrea return the embrace, the safe and warm feeling he gets whenever he’s with her. “Always, babe,” she responds.

They remain in their embrace until the event coordinator interrupts the moment.

“Tyler,” she says, a professional smile plastered on her face. “They’re ready for you.”

Tyler takes a deep breath, his nerves coming back. Giving Andrea one last smile, the blonde man makes his way up the steps and to the microphone. _Here goes nothing!_

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Tyler speaks up, summoning the crowd’s attention.

The guests turn to him, a sea of smiling faces. Some even start clapping for the YouTuber. 

Tyler smiles back, feeling at ease, all his nerves disappearing. He remembers why he’s doing this and to see it all come together, he knows it will all work out. As a small wind brushes through the Los Angeles trees and against Tyler, he could have sworn he felt a hand clutch his shoulder; almost as if there was something there telling him, “you did great, buddy!”

Tyler places his own hand where the invisible hand is, content and ready. It’s the encouragement he needs to proceed. _This is for you, Alex!_

“Hello, and thank you all for coming to the grand opening of the Alexander Burriss Memorial Fund for the Prevention of Violent Crime!”

**Author's Note:**

> Tyler's a great person, and while I was rooting for Alex, I'm glad Tyler won; he deserved it.


End file.
